I am heading out for a full day of high school homecoming activities today. Throw into that mix a re-dedication of our newly remodeled high school and it is going to be a busy Saturday. To keep you all up on what I am doing, I had a guest post yesterday at Shooting for the Show. Go visit my friend Justin’s blog about college and minor league hockey and read a piece I did on Binghamton finally getting a championship.
Monthly Archives: October 2011
Off Season?
I recently sat in on a Twitter Chat with Bart Yasso. Yasso is an accomplished runner and now works with Runner’s World. He is an author and developed the marathon training technique bearing his name, Yasso 800s. Anyway, the comments in reply to many questions mentioned an off season.
What is this off season? If I am not racing, I am training for a race … all year round. Maybe I am strange. I know I have not been running all that long, with my first race having been in December of 09. I do, regardless of how I feel about them, run a lot of 5Ks in the summer but I do not call summer my “season” for running. I run several half marathons but do this throughout the year, starting in March or April. I plan, this upcoming January, on running a 10K freeze series.
I guess what I am asking is when is running season. I didn’t know running had a season. In the high school here locally, there is a cross country in the fall. Some schools have indoor track for a winter sport. Spring brings outside track and field. I do not see a season here. If you live in the southwest, my guess is January and February are big marathon months as the weather is cooler. In the northeast, fall is the time for the big races.
Someone needs to let me know if I am missing my running off season.
Do you participate in a sport? Do you run? Do you have a season? An off season?
Traveling
I use to think traveling was quick, easy and fun. Then, I had children. Now, I admit, my children are mostly all adults so I do not have to worry as much about the needs of the kids when I travel but I got to thinking about how much I use to do when I traveled with kids. There is nothing quick and easy about traveling.
First, I am a planner. I like to get everything set up in advance. Take, for example, my trip with two of the boys to Myrtle Beach last February. I made reservations in October. I did have to change these in January as one of the boys had an issue with going as early as I wanted to arrive. Still, the basics were done well in advance. Nowadays, when making plans, I usually have the school calendar available so that I know I am not leaving town when I should be here for something of importance. This usually works unless I am making plans in one school year for travel that will be happening in the next school year.
Second, when I leave kids home (the youngest is 17, the oldest 26), I tend to be sure that I leave a note with them so the older, adult children can authorize any emergency health care for the youngest one. This is particularly important when I know that their father is also going to be out of the area and therefore unavailable for this purpose. In retrospect, this also means making sure the youngest’s medications are up to date and filled and remembering to leave an insurance card home.
Third, I tend to meal plan for those left home. Easier than leaving cash, I do the shopping in advance and leave a menu for what is to be made while I am away. Since my trips tend to be three to four days, this is not a big deal. Some cash would have to be left with a responsible older child if I were to be traveling for a longer period of time. Bread and milk tend to be gone through quickly. These need to be replenished. I will say the food planning would be easier now that the youngest has a job where he eats at work when he works.
So to get out of the house for a vacation – without even thinking about packing – I can spend several days in preparation.
Do you plan and spend a long time getting ready to take a vacation away from your family?
Regents Cheating
Yesterday the New York State Board of Regents voted on and passed a resolution that teachers will not be able to grade tests of their own students for state assessments or high school Regents examinations. With more and more emphasis being put on the scores of these tests and a new teacher and principal evaluation system set to go into play in the coming years, the Board of Regents felt this was a good way to keep the grading integrity of an exam high.
The Board of Regents also requested monies from the state for data collection to be sure that this helps with the current, and evidently highly anticipated future, problem.
First, I do not believe that teachers changing or grading a test differently to make themselves look better currently happens. I should restate that. I do not believe it happens in my area. It may happen in other areas of the state but I do not see it as an issue here. Second, in many school districts in my area, the tests are currently not graded by an individual teacher. Departments will gather and grade tests as a group. Multiple teachers will grade one essay. There are currently plenty of checks and balances to prevent teacher A from grading, or influencing the grade, of student B. Third, the Board of Regents asks for significant monies from the state. Unfortunately, none of this money will be seen by the local districts where any costs for this regulation will have to be born.
Basically, the Board of Regents has just passed an unfunded mandate for local school districts who, starting this year, are living with a 2% tax levy cap.
Holiday Cards & a Giveaway
I know. It isn’t even Halloween yet. What am I doing talking about holiday cards already? I have to be honest. I usually make my cards. I have used several different designs in the past. Here is last year’s.
2010 Card
You may look and say fairly simple but it was embossed which meant each card had several steps to it. While these could be done in an assembly line manner, the time to make the approximately 50 cards I normally send out is overwhelming.
This year I was looking for something different. I have been spending more time taking photographs than making cards throughout the year. I was really excited to check out Shutterfly’s holiday and Christmas cards. There were truly only two hard parts about this decision. Shutterfly has so many different styles of holiday cards. I had to make a decision about which style I wanted to use. I chose one with just one photo on it. There are plenty that will hold multiple photos. Shutterfly also has greeting cards, photo gifts and calendars. Some day I will make calendars for the next year as gifts.
Now, I am thinking this is going to take me even longer than making cards. There are so many choices to make, so many decisions. I did find, though, that the hardest decision by far is figuring out what photos I am going to use. I chose this card and a photo of snow (this is not my card but the sample).
Design from Shutterfly.com
In less than five minutes after making the design and the photo decisions, I managed to make the card I want for this year. On top of that, I do not have to sign all those cards. They come signed. Now, if I really wanted to save time, I could also get the envelopes addressed for an extra fee. If I were really organized, I could also have Shutterfly mail the cards for me. I do want to do a bit of the “work” myself.
While I have never used Shutterfly before, my daughter has. She made a wonderful book on Shutterfly that was dedicated to the photos from Senior Week at her university. The product, when received, was very professionally done and arrived in a very reasonable time.
Now for the giveaway, do you have a blog? Are you a blogger? Want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q
Don’t worry, if you are not a blogger, I am giving away 25 free cards to three lucky readers. To enter, leave a comment below. Let me know a time saving tip you have for the holiday season. I will, on October 25, use random.org to pick three random winners. Please be sure to leave a way to contact you in the comment. To get an extra entry, like Shutterfly’s Facebook page and follow them on Twitter. Leave a separate comment for each entry.
Disclaimer: I received 50 free cards from Shutterfly in return for doing this review and giveaway. I was not influenced or told what to write. The opinions are solely mine.
Uncle Sam’s Cereal: A Product Review
I have the good fortune to follow Attune Foods on Twitter. There is a weekly chat that they sponsor but better than that, I was approached to try some of their cereal and to share with you what I think about it.
When the box arrived at my doorstep, I could not figure out what I had ordered. I was really excited to find two full boxes of cereal – this strawberry one and the original variety. Lots of times when you get “samples” for review you only get small portions, maybe one serving. While anyone could review on that amount of cereal, I like to be able to eat it on different mornings or mix it in with my yogurt. Anyway, two full boxes so I was very excited.
I have always liked strawberries in cereal. I have tried other cereals that have strawberries in them so I opened the Strawberry box first. I am a bit OCD about cereal. Actually, it has just been so damp lately that I do not like to open more than one box at a time to keep the contents fresh. So I started trying the Strawberry.
The first bowl was delicious. One day I had a bowl as an afternoon snack after a mid-length run. I found the whole wheat berry flakes to be delicious. The strawberries added a touch of sweetness to the cereal. Unfortunately, while I understand the benefits of flax seed, I was not likely the little seeds in the cereal. Overall though, I loved the cereal.
I tried the Original. While the sweetness the strawberries added was absent, the Original variety tasted great. I can also see using this variety in yogurt. I also could see trying it instead of oats in a recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies so I guess the new ones would be wheat berry raisin cookies.
Now onto another other thing I liked. I absolutely love the letter on the inside of the box.
You can find out more information about these two Uncle Sam’s cereals and other products from Attune Foods by visiting their website. They are currently running a contest which can be found under the community tab. You can also follow them on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/attunefoods.
As always, I want you to realize I was sent free product for review. The opinions on the product are mine own, though.
Fall Football
What else is there to do in small town America on a fall afternoon, or evening in some cases, than head to the local high school football game? While the weather yesterday was less than ideal, the date was set for the annual Band Day. While our school district has an excellent music program, the band for football contests is generally a small pep band. One home game a year for the last four years, the pep band invites all band members from grade 5 up to join the pep band for Band Day.
The music will vary from year to year but the formation is always the same. The group forms an M-E on the football field and then plays a couple pieces. For some of these musicians, it is their first time playing outdoors. For some, it is there first time playing with the “older” kids, many of whom they have never meant. Below is a selection of photos from Band Day – some from inside rehearsal which started at 10:30 am to in the stands to on the field.
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College Issues: What Would You Do?
I was all set to pound out some words today about the 27 year old that ran the Chicago Marathon on Sunday and then, six plus hours later, gave birth to a healthy seven pound baby girl. That was until I logged onto Facebook to find a message from my 20 year old son to call him when I got up.
The phone call leads me to feel that village or city laws seem to only apply to taxpayers, not to others who live in towns – particularly college towns.
My 20 year old leaves in a house in a college town. This house has two three bedroom apartments in it. Each bedroom is leased separately for $500 for the summer and $2,600 for each semester. Since the five college students who are currently living there have moved in, there have been concerns about the building. First, it was not cleaned after the last tenants moved out. Second, the windows have no screens in them. Third, the locks work intermittently.
Anyway, last evening, while my son was on campus for a rehearsal of a musical group he is in, the apartment was broken into by three armed men. Electronics were stolen and at least one resident had a firearm pointed at him. When my son returned home, the police were still there.
The question is what do I do as a parent. He can’t move home, although it is only an hour commute to the college. He has a lease that goes through May 31st, 2012. I am going to give the rental company a day to replace all locks. I am going to give the city police (I believe it is a city but it is small) time to investigate and see if any of the stolen merchandise is recovered. This is the time when a parent – whether I am talking about a college student or an older child – feels helpless.
Computer Security
I know we all worry about our computers. As we spend more and more time online, they become more and more like a lifeline for us. We get our news on the computer. We connect with family and friends on the computer. We work on the computer. We really need to be careful on the computer as it is, seemingly, an essential part of our lives.
I was very excited when I was eligible for a Bzz campaign to test Trend Micro’s Titanium Maximum Security. I have used many different computer security programs in the past but this one is very different. The test also came with Trend Micro’s SafeSync which is a back up program for files on your computer.
First, the software itself has some new features. Your purchase will provide protection to your smartphone and to your tablet. These are not areas I tested as I do not have a smartphone. I tried to convince one of my adult children to put it on his smartphone to no avail. I have to be honest. This is also an area I hadn’t really thought of needing protection. While I can access the internet on my phone, it is not something I do frequently. When I leave my computer, I tend to want to leave it so I do not want the temptation of being able to get online on my phone.
I am a social networking junkie. I admit it. I spend a lot of time on Twitter. I use it as a news filter, checking links that other people have posted. The big problem here is to be sure that the link I am clicking is actually a news site and not going to damage my computer in some manner. When I first got on Twitter, there was very little spam but as time has gone on and more people have joined, the spam and dangerous or unknown links have increased. Imagine my surprise when Trend Micro’s Titanium Maximum Security shoes me questionable links.
Screen Capture
The green links are okay and the domains have been verified. The gray colored links are questionable. I loved being able to check and see if I was in good shape clicking a link. The screen capture was on Twitter but the system does the same thing for Facebook.
Trend Micro’s SafeSync automatically backs up files on your computer. The free amount is 10 gigabytes. Unfortunately, that little back up is not enough for all my document, photo and music files. The back up runs in the background of your computer and will take considerable time. No need to do anything different than usual. If you shut your computer down, it will pick up where it left off the next time your turn your computer on. It will also sync new files. This way you cannot lose information should your hard drive give up running or have some other issue.
You can find out all about Trend Micro on its home page and information about products for home use here.
Please realize that I received a free copy of Trend Micro’s Titanium Maximum Security and SafeSync for the purpose of reviewing the products. I was not told how to review the products. The comments and opinions are solely mine. I received these as part of a word of mouth campaign because I am a BzzAgent.
